Mike's new Pico....

[ClarkiiClown]

What are your water changes like? How much do you top off during the week?

[stephane b]

Mike,
by any chance do you know a website that ships to canada that carrys this tank?


Stephane

[ClarkiiClown]

Aquascene in CA will ship to you im sure

[stephane b]

Do you know what the website address is?

[mikeguerrero]

Hi Stephane,

The answer is yes, call 1 510 583-5167 and ask for James of Aquascene in Hayward, Ca. He has already shipped out one to the east coast. I'm sure he can do one for Canada. They are very cheap only $12.99 for the tank I have.

Tell him, Mike Guerrero sent you....

[mikeguerrero]

To answer just a few questions:

The titanium heater is superb, it is smaller than ther others in it's class. And the aquaclear20 is the best, because It's ultra silent and has an adjustable flow, very important in a pico.

I do have some heating issues, since the hood rest so close to the surface, but I have zero evaporation, thats the bonus.

I'm looking at cooling the pico with some options: I will be posting the pics of the cooler I tend to use.

Mike

[ClarkiiClown]

How much water in your water changes? 4 ounces?

[mikeguerrero]

Clarki,

I do just under 5 ounces so 4 would be a good guess. I do that every other day. When I left the top off, the evaporation was much higher.

The closed hood, really helps out, but it does cause heat to build. I'm looking at some cooling techniques. I'll post when I get them up.

Mike

[ClarkiiClown]

Ok so every other day 4 ounces of salted water. So basically no top offs just water changes

[mikeguerrero]

Clarki,

Every other day about 4 ounces of RO/DI Water. I don't add more salt water, or my salinity will rise. Every Sunday I replace half the tank with new salt water.

Mike

[ClarkiiClown]

Ok you have 4 ounces of evap every other day? Shoot my 12gal has only 4oz a day.

[mikeguerrero]

Hey Reefers,

Here is an update on my heating problem. Most of you know that when you have a light so close to the surface you trap air, and through convection that heat is transfered into the main tank.

I could've had my light hang through legs but I would've suffered too much evaporation. I thought about the ice-probe chiller but then it's too bulky for such a small tank.

Chris from nanocustoms gave me an idea, why not place a HD cooler against the glass on the back of the tank. Through small observations, I have seen the temps drop.

I will monitor my ambient temps in my room against what is marked in the pico. I will then post my results.

Also my new resident fish moved in today, he is a small red stripped goby. I hope you guys enjoy the pics I took of him. I picked him up from my LFS, Great bay Aquarium, San Leandro Ca. Ivan the owner gave me a great deal.

Mike

[impur]

Good idea on the fans. I'm interested to see if that works well. Where did you pick up that little dual fan??

[mikeguerrero]

Impur,

The dual fans can be picked up at Fry's electronics in Fremont, Ca. They run about 10 dollars and can be powered up by a 12 Volt ac adapter.

They are categorized as HD cooling fans. They are built to cool down a hard drive on a personal PC.

Mike

[impur]

Thanks for the info Mike!!




Miles

[Paladin]

Sweet looking tank! And that goby is a great addition.

[mikeguerrero]

Thanks,

I read up on this type of goby and they say, it does better in pairs. So I'm going to get him a friend, because he looks and acts very lonely... Maybe try a different type of goby but within his same class.

Also I added a small frag of red macro algae, more pics to come. I'm still fighting the heat.

Mike

[mikeguerrero]

Hey Reefers,

Updated pics of my pico. I added three new frags. On the far right bottom corner you'll see two small branches of my red macro algae. I fragged this piece from my colony in my cube.

To the far left top of the tank, you'll see a fragged piece of an organ pipe that I purchased, from Aquascene. Thanks James.

Then to the very bottom left corner, you'll see some pink zoos, they are so nice. Also purchased from Aquascene.

I also picked up two more little fish to keep my other goby company. They are two neon gobies same size as my first stripped one. I got those from Great Bay Aquarium, thanks Ivan.

But to a sader note, my stripped goby jumped ship, he vacated the premesis, my wife and I were sad to see him dried up next to the tank.

I forgot to turn on the heater and in the morning the tank was 71.5 degrees and I found him dead. I don't know if it was the drop in temp that made him jump.

The other two gobies were fine. One was in the tank and the other had gotten sucked up through the filter, I had not yet modified the intake tube, since its' too long. I thought the fish would not go through that, but I was wrong, as I found him in the sponge. I freaked and rescued the goby, remarkably he didn't even suffer a torn fin.

I went to work on the modification of the Aqua mini 20. I got the extension tube to the length that fits the tank, used some super glue and bam, the problem was solved.

Tonight I can go to bed assured that my two residents will at least stay in the tank and not get sucked up at night.

I almost forgot, I got a great deal on a sexy shrimp for only 8 dollars from Atlantis Aquarium, thanks Ming....

Mike

[slave-of-rock]

sick pink zoas!!! they arernt super slow growers, but they arent really fast, put um in a spot and leave um and they will grow

[Cesar357]

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. Man those zoo's are very good looking dude. Im jealous, now I want a pico too.

[Cowman345]

Mike, or anyone for that matter... How quickly do zoos spread if they're doing well? I have a few in my pico that have grown by 50% since I got them 2 weeks ago, but they're not budding off... does it take a long time?

-dave-

[David4039]

I knwo what tank that is. I just bought one today. It is made by "Ocean Free" Super Curved Betta Tank +. I got mine at Petco for $5. If anyone wants pictures I can give them to you.

It's 9'' x 5 3/4'' x 7'' roughly. Is it the same demensions Mike?

[eugimon]

wow... that's a great pico.. i love that you selected smaller specimens so your tank has the illusion of looking large and roomy. very nice!

[bennerkla]

Mike, any updates?

[dBOYD435]

Total cost????